Following the conclusion of Diwali festivities, the major passenger rail terminals across the National Capital Region have transformed into bustling epicenters of mass transit as hundreds of thousands of migrant workers, students, and families head to their native villages across eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Jharkhand to celebrate Chhath Mahaparva. To manage the immense festive rush and prevent platform overcrowding, Indian Railways has rolled out an aggressive operational plan, deploying 31 dedicated special festival trains from the Delhi railway network toward eastern destinations on Wednesday, November 11, 2026. Traditional devotional Chhath songs playing over station public address systems have filled the air across terminals as travelers carrying luggage, wicker baskets, and sacred offerings line up outside passenger holding areas. With prominent hubs including the New Delhi Railway Station, Anand Vihar Terminal, Old Delhi Junction, Hazrat Nizamuddin, and Shakur Basti operating under heightened security and logistical coordination, Northern Railway is closely monitoring real-time passenger footfalls to introduce additional unreserved services whenever passenger loads exceed available capacity.
Mobilizing 31 Special Trains: East-Bound Routes Get Direct Transit Boost
The deployment of 31 special train services on Wednesday represents one of the largest single-day festive operations undertaken by the Delhi Division of Northern Railway this season. As the sacred four-day sun-worship festival of Chhath approaches, travel demand to key eastern junction stations—including Patna, Muzaffarpur, Darbhanga, Gorakhpur, Chhapra, Bhagalpur, and Gaya—reaches its annual peak, putting immense pressure on regularly scheduled long-distance express trains.
To ensure orderly boarding and provide maximum carriage capacity, railway authorities distributed the special train departures across multiple strategic origin stations:
Anand Vihar Terminal Leadership: Anand Vihar Terminal, located in East Delhi, continues to handle the heaviest load of eastern-bound traffic. Out of the 27 special trains successfully dispatched on Tuesday, November 10, nine services originated from Anand Vihar, and it remains the primary operational springboard on Wednesday.
New Delhi and Shakur Basti Operations: New Delhi Railway Station dispatched six dedicated festive specials on Tuesday, while Shakur Basti handled five services. Both terminals have ramped up their departure rosters on Wednesday to alleviate pressure from central interchange hubs.
Hazrat Nizamuddin and Delhi Junction: Hazrat Nizamuddin and Old Delhi Junction each operated three special services on Tuesday, providing vital links for passengers based in South and North Delhi.
Regional Outlying Origins: To ease the burden on internal city stations, feeder departures were also activated from neighboring satellite nodes, including a special departure originating from Rohtak in Haryana.
Short-Notice Unreserved Trains: Managing Unprecedented Platform Crowds
A defining feature of this season’s railway strategy is dynamic capacity management. Because waitlists on regular express trains like the Sampoorna Kranti Express, Bihar Sampark Kranti, and Poorva Express swelled into triple digits weeks before the festival, thousands of unreserved general passengers have converged on station premises without confirmed berths.
In response to the sudden influx on Tuesday, railway authorities introduced four unreserved special trains on short notice to clear waiting halls and circulating concourses:
Immediate Crowd Relief: The short-notice trains were positioned on designated platforms to absorb large crowds gathering outside ticketing counters, preventing platform congestion and dangerous boarding rushes.
Dynamic Fleet Allocation: Himanshu Shekhar Upadhyay, Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) of Northern Railway, emphasized that the administration has implemented a real-time monitoring system. “Additional special trains will be planned as per the need while monitoring the passenger rush,” Upadhyay stated, reassuring travelers that the railways remain prepared to greenlight more unscheduled rakes if passenger volumes surge further.
Queue Management and Boarding Discipline: Railway Protection Force (RPF) and Government Railway Police (GRP) personnel have created designated queue lanes outside general seating coaches, ensuring that women, senior citizens, and families board carriages smoothly without stampede risks.
Inter-State Connectivity: Chandigarh to Barauni Reserved Special Launched
Beyond the primary terminals of the national capital, neighboring railway divisions across northern India are operating coordinated inter-state festival services to handle regional passenger spillover. Recognizing the substantial population of industrial and service workers from Bihar living across the Tricity region—encompassing Chandigarh, Mohali, and Panchkula—the Ambala Division of Northern Railway announced a dedicated reserved festive train operating between Chandigarh and Barauni.
The schedule and transit path for the Chandigarh-Barauni Special include:
Outbound Schedule (Train No. 04538): The Chandigarh–Barauni Reserved Special departed from Chandigarh railway station on Tuesday, November 10, at 10:00 PM. Traversing a comprehensive regional corridor, the train connects key halts including Ambala Cantonment, Yamunanagar-Jagadhri, Saharanpur, Moradabad, Bareilly, Lucknow, Varanasi, and Chhapra, before reaching its final destination at Barauni Junction in Bihar at 3:30 AM on the third day of its journey.
Return Service (Train No. 04537): To facilitate a smooth post-festival return for devotees, Train No. 04537 Barauni–Chandigarh Reserved Special will begin its return trip from Barauni on Thursday, November 12, at 6:30 AM, retracing the same route to bring passengers back to Haryana and Punjab.
Ground Arrangements: Mega Holding Enclosures and Enhanced Passenger Amenities
To handle the immense daily footfalls without overwhelming platform tracks, the Delhi Division has instituted specialized ground infrastructure modeled on major pilgrimage transit systems. Mega holding areas equipped with giant shamianas, portable seating benches, and temporary ticketing windows have been established in the circulating areas outside New Delhi and Anand Vihar stations.
Key crowd-care and safety protocols implemented across Delhi stations include:
External Holding Areas: Passengers are organized into shaded waiting pavilions outside the station building and are permitted down onto platform levels only when their designated train has docked and been fully inspected.
Sanitation and Hydration Stations: Round-the-clock drinking water booths, mobile bio-toilets, and dedicated primary medical response teams equipped with first-aid kits and emergency stretchers have been deployed adjacent to all passenger waiting areas.
Clear Route Announcements: High-decibel audio systems and high-definition electronic display boards continuously broadcast departure timings, platform assignments, and safety instructions in Hindi, Bhojpuri, and Maithili alongside the playing of traditional Chhath devotional music.
Surveillance and Anti-Touting Vigil: Over two hundred high-resolution CCTV cameras monitored by specialized command cells are keeping watch over ticketing counters and platforms to identify unauthorized ticket scalpers and touts attempting to exploit desperate travelers.